What is the position of Islam on war and peace?
The Quran is very specific on this question. Addressing the Prophet of Islam, it gives a general command: “And, O Muhammad, strive hard with this, (the Quran) the great striving.” (52:52)
The Quran is a book. It is not a gun or a sword. This being so, striving “with the Quran” clearly means engaging in a peaceful struggle, rather than an armed one.
The Quran is an ideological book. Striving peacefully with it alone can bring about a transformation in the minds of the people. Only then can the spirit be moulded in the Quranic way. That is to say, the Quran’s mission is not to capture a piece of land but to capture the minds of the people. The goal of Islam is to bring about an intellectual revolution, not to destroy people physically.
If, by studying the Quran, we try to find out how the Prophet of Islam set about his task, we find that the specific goal of his entire mission were the changing of people’s hearts and minds.
The Quran tells us that God sent His revelation to the Prophet in order that people’s thinking be brought from darkness to light. (57:9)
According to a tradition, the Prophet of Islam said, “As regards the reformation of human beings, there is only one really important thing and that is, the reformation of the heart. Change people’s hearts and their whole life will be changed. When the Prophet of Islam received his first revelation, he gathered people at the hill of Safa and addressed them thus: “O people, I have been sent in order to inform you about what is going to take place after death.”
In a similar way even when the Prophet gained supremacy in Madinah, he again addressed its inhabitants thus: “0 people, save yourselves from the fire, even if it is by a piece of date.”
A study of the Quran and Seerah tells us that the actual goal of Islam has been, from beginning to end, to change people’s hearts. But in accordance with the creation plan, everyone – and there are all kinds of people in this world – has been given total freedom.
It was as a result of this freedom that certain people turned against the Prophet of Islam; some of them even went to the extent of taking up arms in order to put an end to his mission by force. It was in situations such as these that the Prophet and his companions had to resort to arms, temporarily, in
self-defence. In this context, it would be correct to say that peace in Islam is the rule, rather than the exception.
Muhammad (may peace be upon him) lived on this earth for 23 years after receiving prophethood. During these 23 years, the Quran was revealed at intervals and according to the circumstances. If this period is divided up under the headings of war and peace, we will find that one part of the Quran, covering a span of twenty years, relates to peaceful teachings on the subjects of faith, worship, ethics, justice, humanity, etc., whereas the verses relating to war were revealed during a period of only 3 years, when the believers were faced with armed aggression.
There are 114 chapters in the Quran, containing 6,666 verses in all. There are hardly 40 verses, which relate directly or indirectly to war. This means that the verses dealing with war represent barely 0.6 percent of the entire text.
This kind of difference can be found in the constitutions of every country as well as in all religious books. For instance, while the Bible enshrines many teachings on the subject of peace, it also includes this saying of Jesus Christ:
“1 did not come to bring peace but a sword.”
Similarly, while the Bhagvad Gita holds forth at length on wisdom and ethics, it also contains passages where Krishna insists that Arjun should go ahead and fight. Moreover, it is obvious that these injunctions in the Bible and the Gita are intended to cover only exceptional cases.
One important aspect of Islam as regards its peace¬-loving policy is that it differentiates between the enemy and the aggressor.
According to the teachings of Islam, if a group unilaterally attacks, thus opening hostilities, war can, as a matter of necessity, be waged in self-defence. The Quran states: “Permission to fight is given to those who are attacked.”
But so far as engaging in combat with the enemy is concerned, the Quran does not allow military action just on account of enmity. There is a verse in the Quran which gives clear guidance in this regard: “And good and evil are not alike. Requite evil with what is best. Then truly he, between whom and you there was enmity, will become your dearest friend.” (41:34)
These verses teach us not to regard our enemies as objects of everlasting hostility, for a potential friend could be hiding in the guise of an enemy. Discover this friend and turn the potential into the actual. Then you will have no cause for complaint.
There is a tradition which throws greater light on this. Aisha, the Prophet’s wife, speaking of the Prophet’s general policy, said: “Whenever the Prophet had to choose between two courses of action, he always opted for the easier one.”
It is clear that there are two ways of settling an issue¬ – one violent and one peaceful. When we compare the two, we find that in any controversial matter, opting for violence is the harder course, while opting for non-violence is the easier. The general rule in Islam is that, whenever there is any controversy, we have to choose to tread the path of peace rather than that of violence. In present times, when freedom has been accepted as an irrevocable right of man, peaceful methods should invariably be adopted.
For, according to the established principles of our times, although there are certainly many obstacles to opting for violent methods, there is no bar whatsoever to adopting peaceful methods.
It would be appropriate to add here that, during the life of the Prophet, if certain wars of a limited duration took place; such engagement only reflected the conditions of those times. The wars that took place in the first half of the seventh century are explainable in terms of it being an age of religious coercion and religious persecution. The atmosphere of religious tolerance that prevails today was not to be found in those times, so that the opponents of monotheism, by initiating hostilities, forced the Prophet to fight. Today, religious tolerance has become an established right of every individual and every group. That is why the question of going to war to secure religious rights should simply never arise.
Constructive Islamic activities are possible only in a peaceful and normal atmosphere. The importance of peace in Islam is, therefore, so great that we are commanded to ensure peace by bearing with all kinds of unpleasant situations. Even when countering persecution by opponents, the ways of peace and avoidance must be adopted, and peace must at all costs be unilaterally maintained: that is an important principle of Islam. There is only one exception to this rule, and that is in the case of physical aggression by opponents.
The Prophet of Islam began his prophetic mission in ancient Makkah, where he lived for a period of thirteen years after receiving his prophethood. During this period the Makkan opponents repeatedly indulged in acts of persecution and violence. But the Prophet of Islam and his companions unilaterally tolerated all such acts of gross injustice. The emigration from Makkah to Madinah was also a form of tolerance and avoidance, resorted to by the Prophet, in order to avoid clashing with his opponents.
Even after the Prophet’s migration, his opponents were not content, but set out to attack him, notwithstanding the distance of three hundred miles separating Makkah and Madinah. In the books of hadith these attacks are called ghazwah (battles). Eighty three ghazwahs are recorded in the hadith. However, only three all-out battles took place between the Prophet and his opponents. This was because, on all the other occasions, by means of avoidance and timely strategy, the Prophet managed to avert confrontation between the two sides: eighty ghazwahs were, therefore, cases of avoidance and only on three occasions (Badr, Uhud, Hunain), was he forced to take up arms, there being no other option.
One example of this avoidance of armed confrontation is that of the signing of the Hudaybiya peace treaty. When a pitched battle seemed imminent between the Prophet of Islam and his opponents, the Prophet successfully defused the situation by the initiation of peace negotiations which continued for two weeks. During these negotiations, which took place at Hudaybiya near Makkah, the Prophet of Islam found the other party clinging obstinately to its demands.
Therefore, the Prophet unilaterally accepted all the conditions of the enemy in order to arrive at a peaceful conclusion.
The purpose of this pact was to end tensions between the two parties and to maintain a normal atmosphere in order that the work of dawah and reconstruction might be performed – the actual goal of the mission of Islam. Immediately after the conclusion of the Hudaybiya peace treaty, the atmosphere did come back to normal and all the constructive activities of Islam were resumed in full force. This finally resulted in the spread of Islam throughout the whole of Arabia.
According to the teachings of Islam, waging war is the prerogative of an established government alone, and does not fall within the province of non-government organizations or institutions. If non-government organizations feel the need of reform, any movements they launch to that end must remain strictly within a peaceful sphere. Entering the arena of violence is in no way permissible in Islam.
Two extremely important points should be noted in this regard. One is that the launching of aggressive movements by NGO’s, on any pretext, is unlawful. The second point is that, although an established government is allowed to fight a defensive war, it is still bound by the condition of prior declaration. An undeclared war is totally unlawful in Islam. A guerrilla war is unlawful because it is waged by NGOs, while a proxy war is unlawful because, although a government may be instrumental in waging it, it is without a proper declaration. There is no justification for any such war. The Quran states that before going into battle you have to “throw back their covenant to them.” (8:58)
The present world is so structured that conflicts inevitably take place between individuals. On such occasions, Islam tells us not to allow the conflict to escalate to the point of a violent confrontation. The Quran calls this a policy of patience and avoidance. As a permanent principle, it says: ‘Reconciliation is best.’ (4:128) That is, at the time of mutual conflict, reconciliation should be resorted to, in order to end the conflict, which is far better in its result. This is for the simple reason that, by adopting the path of conciliation we can find opportunities to prevent our energy from being wasted in confrontational actions and to devote all this energy to constructive activities. It is this advantage of conciliatory course that, the Prophet of Islam addressed his followers thus: “You should not desire confrontation with the enemy; you should ask God for peace.”
There is a verse in the Quran that says:
“Whenever they kindle the fire of war, Allah puts it out.” This verse shows us clearly the actual spirit of Islam regarding war and peace. For various reasons people enter the arena of battle. This is an exigency of the system prevailing in the world based on the principle of competition. It is the task of the believers, that when others ignite the flame of war, they should cool the fire by adopting the strategy of unilateral goodness. That is to say, the strategy of the believers should not be that of war, but of avoidance. What one has to do, on the one hand, is to safeguard one’s interests without going so far as to wage war; on the other hand, there is the responsibility of being the messengers of peace. We should be traders of peace and not traders of war.
It was in this spirit of Islam that, when the Prophet came into power in Madinah, he did not start waging war in order to force people to surrender to him. Instead, he negotiated with tribes all over Arabia and ultimately brought about unity among them with a series of peace treaties.
If we make an in-depth study of the teachings of Islam, we find that Islam wants to root out all those factors which lead to war. Why is a war waged? There are two main causes. One, to attempt to annihilate the enemy. Second, to attempt to gain political power. In the achievement of either of these goals, there is no justification in Islam for war.
So far as enemies are concerned, there is a verse in the Quran which is applicable at all times:
“And good and evil are not alike. Return good for evil and behold, he who is your enemy will become your dearest friend.” (41:34)
This shows that with regard to the enemy, Islam teaches us to try to eliminate enmity – and not the enemy himself.
According to the Quran, no enemy is everlastingly hostile. For in every enemy there lies a potential friend. Therefore, what the believer ought to do is to reach out to the man hidden within through unilateral good behaviour. By requiting good for evil he should convert this enemy into a friend.
A study of the Quran tells us that it differentiates between the enemy and the aggressor. We are commanded not to nurture hatred for the enemy, but rather, with the help of good behaviour and wise strategy, try to turn the enemy into a friend. However, in the case of unprovoked aggression, a defensive war is permitted under certain conditions. The Quran says:
“And fight in the way of Allah with those who fight you, but do not be aggressive.” (2:192)
This verse tells us that permission to wage war is given only when a party has already initiated hostilities against Islam, unilaterally. There is no permission for war in Islam without such actual aggression.
The basic principle of Islam as regards war and peace can be found in these words of the Quran.
“So long as they go straight with you, do you go straight with them.” (9:7).
This Quranic injunction shows that the principle governing mutual relations between nations is that, if one of them adheres to the policy of peace, the other must do likewise. Believers are not permitted to start military engagements on one pretext or the other, if their antagonists show no intention of going to war. Therefore, there is no excuse for war except in response to actual aggression.
As we know, the Prophet of Islam was born in Makkah in 570 A.D. He received the prophethood in 610 and lived as a prophet in this world for 23 years. During this 23 year period, he spent the first 13 years in Makkah and the last 10 years in Madinah. Some verses of the Quran were revealed in Makkah and some verses were revealed in Madinah. Now, what were his activities during this prophetic period?
He taught people by reciting verses of the Qur’an which said: ‘Read in the name of your Lord ...’ and other such verses, which were peaceful teachings, being non-militant in nature, and ethical in value. He taught people how to pray, and to practice patience and tolerance, even in the face of oppression, and thus avoid conflict.
He introduced the Qur’an to the people, as a main source of dawah and reform. He set the example of striving to secure not one’s seat in Dar-al Nadwah (Makkah’s parliament) but a seat in paradise. His own life was a living example to others, and he showed that even with the 360 idols set up in a place as holy as the Kabah, one could still carry out one’s mission peacefully, without opting for the way of confrontation.
He was a role model, in that he showed that it was possible for a human being to work for the well-being of others, without any ill-feeling, despite the circumstances being highly provocative.
All the tasks performed by the Prophet throughout his life were marked by the greatness which comes from always choosing a non-violent course of action. Setting this kind of example formed the greater part of the Prophet’s actual mission. And so far as war and violence are concerned, the jurists have characterized them as not being for the sake of Islam, but as being contingent upon exceptional circumstances.
